Breaking News - NBC News has just reported that the Arizona Cardinals (and former Arizona State University star) Pat Tillman, who turned down a multimillion dollar contract extension to join the Army Rangers after 9/11, has been killed in action in Afghanistan.

More to come.

Edited to correct location, initially reported as Iraq.

[Edited 2004-04-23 16:34:38]

"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan

IMHO, the word hero gets thrown around way too much. But if anyone deserves to be called a hero, however, it was Pat Tillman. Godspeed. Dude had a brass pair of balls.

And then you've got that scrawny little idiot Ely Manning crying because he doesn't want to play for the Chargers. Maybe he, along with some other pro athletes will learn something from this. It's called Character.

Pat Tillman is a true hero in every sense of the word. Leaving millions on the table to serve your country? How many people out of a million would do that?! He was an unbelieveable story and its really sad that it had to end up this way. The courage and discipline that Tillman showed was unmatched. God Bless You, Pat.

The moment of silence before the NFL draft would be a nice touch, but...

I would like to see people write to Commissioner Tagliabue and suggest the NFL name a Courage Award after Pat Tillman.

That's a truly great idea. No one in the NFL exemplified honor, courage, and dedication like Pat Tillman. Name the award after him already (although, would there really be anyone in the NFL worthy of such an award? Nothing even comes close to what he's done).

This man is without a doubt the most courageous, honorable person in recent memory...My deepest condolences go out to the Tillman family - Pat was without a doubt a hero and demonstrated that without a doubt.

Anyway, I can just say that it is not any worse that this guy got killed then Joe Minority, who didn't have a choice in life to get a career, without joining up and I am sure there are a LOT of those people out there dying.
It was his own choice, so he did not sacrifice any more than anybody else who signs up out of free will.

Actually ConcordeBoy, being obsessed with GE90 and B777 variants is complete bullshit.

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I was greatly saddened to read about his death. Clearly no one intends to trivialize the death of any other US service member by posting here. However, Pat Tillman was a celebrity and knowingly walked away from vast amounts of money, a relatively easy life, and celebrity because of his deep personal convictions. We can be sure that Pat Tillman would have wanted no special attention on this day compared to other soldies and that is why he we should honor his sacrifice and that of his family.

In a time when so many professional atheletes are a bunch of crybabies and threaten to go on strike because they are not quite satisfied with some multi-million dollar salary or how they are treated in the press, Tillman will be an inspiration for years to come. How many pro-athletes are willing to walk away from millions, big houses, fancy cars, and fame to risk his life for the salary of an Army Ranger?

Not many at all.

Like I said, Tillman went to great lengths to be treated as an ordinary solider--shunning interviews after his enlistment. He did not expect the attention but he and has family deserve this country's full support. That he is a celebrity is happenstance. We just happend to remember this soldier's name.

I wish to express my profound gratitude for his service and condolences for his loss. RIP Pat Tillman.

Altough I don't agree with the large amount of attention this is getting, I was wondering when someone would come in here and piss on the parade. He is no more a hero than any of the other servicemen out there. However I have to say he's a better man than I. I would have taken the millions and kept playing football. The fact that he did the opposite of what most people would do in his situation makes him a special human being. And that deserves to be noted.

Sorry bub, but I got plenty o' value to spew: and right now, I have no qualm about pointing out that someone with a few more career options than his barrack buddies getting offed in a conflict deserves no more laud whatsoever than they would have...... and the fact that he's getting it, and plenty of it, only adds my point.

25 N79969
: Concordeboy, For someone that has and maintains an encyclopedic knowledge of things as ultra-trivial of what comes after the hypen following GE90 or B

26 Backfire
: I wonder what other people have given up in order to go and fight in another country? Of course, we'll probably never know because they weren't fortun